Question

definition of valence electrons

Answer 1

a valence electron is an outer shell electron that is associated with an atom, and that can participate in the formation of a chemical bond if the outer shell is not closed; in a single covalent bond, both atoms in the bond contribute one valence electron in order to form a shared pair.

Answer 2

Valence electrons can be defined as follows.

• The valence electrons are the electrons that are present in the outermost shell around the nucleus of an atom.
• It can be said that the electrons which are found in the orbit farthest from the nucleus are valence electrons. These electrons are responsible for the formation of a chemical bond.
• As an example, consider the sodium (Na) atom (atomic number, 11). Its electronic configuration can be written as 1s²2s²2p⁶3s¹. It shows that in its outermost shell (3s), there is 1 electron. So, the number of valence electrons in a sodium atom is 1.